Nami's mother hugged her and her sister. "Don't cry, girls. I wish I could have taken better care of you," the woman began as the two wept on her shoulder, their voices growing weaker. "I wish I could have been a better mother to both of you."
"Don't say that! Don't leave us!" Nojiko shouted, moving away from her mother and looking into her pained eyes.
Nami remained buried in her mother's shoulder; her warmth was the only thing keeping her from completely losing herself. "We don't need anything! Just don't die! You need to see the map I'm going to draw of the whole world!" she cried. She couldn't lose her! She was her mother. Who else would take care of her and her sister? How would she go on without her?
The woman smiled at her youngest daughter and stepped back to look into her eyes. "Yes... Your map... Go and fulfill your dreams... For me," she whispered, smiling at her beautiful Tangerine.
"Bellemere, no!" Nami cried, sobbing even harder and burying her face in her mother's shoulder.
A deep, contemptuous voice interrupted the family's last moments together: "So, these are your daughters?"
Nami gasped as she woke up, sitting up with sweat dripping from her forehead. She glanced quickly around the room, her eyes wide, trying to get her bearings; her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She hated that dream.
The redhead glanced at the sleeping figure beside her; her heart rate was beginning to slow. They had stayed up late talking about many things, though nothing as personal as what they had shared earlier that day. It was mostly the kind of thing girls usually talk about when a friend stays over. It had been nice.
After the pillow fight, things calmed down. They ended up staying in Kaya's room almost all day until dinner, much to Luffy's annoyance. He got bored... quickly. Finally, dinnertime arrived, and the four visitors met Merry.
The other butler was also a tall man who wore a uniform similar to his companion's: a black suit, a tie with gold buttons, and a white shirt underneath. His suit was cleaner, lacking the same decorations and eccentricities as Kuro's. His eyes were small and round, with black pupils and a single eyebrow hanging above them. He had curly white hair that looked very much like a lamb's fleece, with two lamb horns protruding from the top of the thick white locks. Downy hair also surrounded the lower third of his neck, giving him an even more lamb-like appearance. In short, he looked like a lamb... that also looked human.
Khlahadore seemed very reluctant to serve them, so Merry ended up serving all the food. The man had been very polite and kind to everyone, so no one minded much. Not even Kaya. Afterward, they all went to bathe and sleep. Luffy complained that they weren't sleeping together, but Kaya said she wanted to have a girl talk with Nami and that there couldn't be any boys in the room. Finally, reluctantly, she agreed, and they each went their separate ways.
Nami quietly slipped her feet out from under the covers and placed them on the floor, beginning to get up. She didn't want to wake Kaya.
The girl got up and went to the door. Her throat was very dry, and she needed water. She probably wouldn't be able to fall back asleep for a while... That dream always made her nervous. It had been recurring ever since the day she remembered it, the day she lost her mother. The orange-haired girl shook her head as she reached the door. Thinking about it now wouldn't do her any good. Her hand grasped the doorknob and turned it slowly, opening the door and tiptoeing out of the room.
Nami carefully closed Kaya's bedroom door and headed to where she had showered earlier. The redhead's steps were as light as a feather. She had plenty of practice sneaking away and stealing from pirates, so she liked to think she could be quite silent when she wanted to be. She walked down the hall and glanced toward the boy's bedroom door, smiling. Luffy really didn't want to go to bed.
Looking away from the door, the redhead continued on her way. There was no need to disturb the sleeping boys.
"Just a little bit more..."
The voice echoed softly in a room across from the bathroom. He barely heard it, but he could hear perfectly well. It had to be this way; the robbery demanded it.
With curiosity gnawing at her, Nami approached as quietly as possible, quickly reaching her destination. The redhead examined the door and realized the keyhole would allow her to see inside the room. Crouching down, she peered through the small keyhole. With her limited vision, she thought she saw Kaya's butler... sharpening something? She adjusted her head to get a better look.
They looked like claws. Kaya's butler, Khlahadore, thought they were; he was sharpening a pair of long claws. They looked like brass knuckles, but instead of knuckles, each one had three long blades the size of small swords.
Nami paled. That definitely wasn't something many butlers possessed. The redhead awoke from the keyhole, her breath ragged. She just needed to get to her original destination: the bathroom. Snooping wouldn't do her any good. Shocked by the sight of Kaya's butler sharpening what looked like weapons, the redhead hadn't bothered to keep quiet, and a creaking sound echoed down the hall.
"Make a sound and you will die," a voice whispered in his ear.
The girl's heart stopped. Was it Khlahadore? When had he moved? Why hadn't she heard him? How did he know she was watching him? All the questions flashed through her mind at once. She looked down and saw one of the claws she had seen sharpening moments before.
"Go downstairs and leave," the voice ordered from over his shoulder.
Nami obeyed, her heart practically leaping out of her chest.
The two descended the stairs in silence to the front door, Khlahadore's claws never leaving Nami's throat. The only sound was the torrential rain as the door opened, and just as quickly as it had arrived, it vanished, leaving the rest of the house unaware of the danger their friend was in.
Nami rushed out into the rain in a panic. Her clothes, like Khlahadore's, quickly became soaked. What on earth was going on?!
"Get out, turn around," the man said and began to guide her, his voice louder now that it was masked by the rain.
The redhead girl followed the tall man's orders. Otherwise... She swallowed hard. She didn't want to think about it. The two of them started walking along the edge of the house in the direction the man had indicated.
"If you hadn't been snooping around, you might have survived tonight," Khlahadore said, as his footsteps crunched on the damp grass beneath him.
Nami was too scared to answer. Was she going to die? Luffy wasn't there to save her like last time either. Why did he want to kill her? She'd barely seen anything! Her steps faltered at the thought of dying. She couldn't die yet! She still had to buy Cocoyashi and free her people! The memory of her home spurred the orange-haired girl to action, and she did the only thing that came to mind at that moment: strike them where it hurt the most.
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Hi everyone, what do you think of the story so far? The book has over 300 chapters. If you'd like to download the complete book, it's available on my Ko-fi page. Here's the link: 👉 🤩 ko-fi.com/winterstar01 🤩